World AIDS Day Strikes a Chord Across U.S. Campuses

USA Today reported that many colleges and universities across the nation were expanding their HIV/AIDS awareness events in association with World AIDS Day, held each year on December 1. Campus wellness centers and students staged a wide variety of events to increase HIV awareness and educate their peers about prevention and treatment.

University of Houston-Downtown students organized a march in which one of every five marchers wore a t-shirt reading, "I am HIV-positive," to raise awareness that approximately 20 percent of HIV-infected people in the United States were unaware of their status. The East Carolina University Campus Wellness Center sponsored a runway fashion show featuring outfits made of condoms. Two Texas Tech University medical students organized a week of HIV awareness events. Emory University students created AIDS memorial quilts in honor of HIV-infected people to remind students that HIV still presented a threat. Southern Illinois University Carbondale events included free HIV testing, a vigil, and a panel discussion that aimed to provide an environment in which students were comfortable asking questions.

Ebonie Parris, a wellness coordinator at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami-Dade County, stated that the week was a "teachable moment" for students who might not know the difference between HIV and AIDS. FIU events included "edutainment" tools such as a "spinning wheel HIV/AIDS education game." Miami-Dade County has the highest per capita AIDS rate in the nation, according to Florida Department of Health data.

CDC estimated that 1.1 million US residents were HIV-infected, and that 26 percent of new infections occurred among people ages 13-24 in 2010.

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